Department for Transport

Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

lord bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sugg on 20 September (HL10301), whether they have considered implementing a target for NOX emissions to be reduced to 4 per cent by 2025; and if so, how much of this improvement is dependent on (1) vehicle design, and (2) policies to reduce traffic congestion.

baroness sugg: There is no target to reduce NOX emissions by 4 per cent by 2025. However, all local authorities with levels of NO2 exceedance must achieve legal compliance in the shortest possible time. Measures that could be implemented to achieve this might include reducing NOX emissions from buses by retrofitting them to a minimum Euro VI standard, purchasing low and ultra-low emission buses, implementing bus priority measures and encouraging mode shift to public transport to help reduce traffic congestion.

Ports

lord mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty's Government what meetings (1) ministers, and (2) officials have held with UK port-owning companies to discuss (a) preparations for Brexit, and (b) current operational weaknesses.

baroness sugg: Ministers and officials have met UK port-owning companies on numerous occasions to discuss preparations for exiting the European Union. This includes various port visits by Ministers from the Department for Transport and other Departments, and officials' meetings involving ports under the aegis of the Border Delivery Group, including a systematic programme of engagement by Border Force with all UK ports engaged in international trade.Any operational weaknesses, that may be found in commercial systems, are a matter for the ports themselves to resolve.

Ports

lord mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the efficiency of IT infrastructure at UK ports; and what plans they have to support improvements in IT infrastructure at UK ports in time for Brexit.

baroness sugg: The efficiency of operational IT infrastructure is a commercial matter for each port. HMG has however assessed cyber security at several key ports. In addition, we have published guidance for industry as a whole. The Network and Information Systems Regulations, which came into force in May 2018, have placed mandatory cyber security requirements on the most critical UK operators.HMRC and Border Force are familiar with the IT arrangements in relation to the CHIEF system, and its successor, CDS, for handling border control declarations.

Ports

lord mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on productivity in shipside operations at the Port of Felixstowe of IT implementation issues and of problems at the port of Southampton; and what support they have offered.

lord mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in the light of experience at the Port of Felixstowe, they intend to write to UK Port companies to encourage better planning on IT and other investment changes to ensure consistent UK port capacity in the pre-Christmas period.

lord mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the impact the Port of Felixstowe’s IT problems are having onsmall and medium-sized enterprises.

baroness sugg: Operations at the ports of Felixstowe and at Southampton Container Terminal are matters for the operators themselves in consultation with customers and port users, including SMEs. I understand that the situation at Felixstowe has now improved following difficulties with the 'nGen' system, and that congestion recently affecting Southampton was expected to be transient. UK container port capacity overall is easily sufficient to meet demand in the pre-Christmas period, and there is also scope for further consented expansion to meet future growth in global trade including the largest vessels currently in world fleets.

National College for High Speed Rail

baroness randerson: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reasons for poor recruitment to the National College for High Speed Rail; what are the financial implications of this for the project in this financial year; and what implications this has for the recruitment of sufficient numbers of skilled staff.

baroness sugg: The National College for High Speed Rail (NCHSR) is a new institution – it opened last year, in September 2017. It is recognised that it will take time to grow its learner base. The NCHSR has made good progress: intake this academic year is nearly double last years’ intake with additional growth forecast later this year and in future. The college continues to work in partnership with the rail industry and key partners such as HS2 to help build their skills capability. HS2 Ltd is committed to helping new and existing workers develop vital technical skills that the country needs. In September 2018 HS2 Ltd launched a Skills, Employment and Education Strategy. It sets out how the company is working with its supply chain, the NCHSR, and other stakeholders to build the workforce needed to design and build HS2 and future infrastructure projects, and to leave a lasting skills legacy for the country.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Energy Companies Obligation

baroness jones of whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 12 July (HL9337), what steps they intend to take to replace the ECO3 energy efficiency scheme which ended on 30 September; and when they intend to lay the Energy Company Obligation Order 2018 before Parliament.

lord henley: On 19 July 2018 Government published the response to the consultation and laid the regulations for the ECO3 scheme, which will run from autumn 2018 to March 2022. The Electricity and Gas (Energy Company Obligation) Order 2018 can be found at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2018/9780111171769/contents

Safety: Standards

lord sharkey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether it is in the public interest that EU-mandated safety standards held by the British Standards Institution may not be accessed without payment; and what considerationis being given to making those standards freely available.

lord henley: Businesses are required to comply with the relevant legislation rather than standards. Standards support safety regulation through providing one means of demonstrating conformity to the essential safety requirements set out in legislation.The use of standards is voluntary and they are developed outside the regulatory system according to a system of stakeholder involvement. The British Standards Institution, as the UK’s National Standards Body, has responsibility for developing and maintaining standards, and supports its work through selling standards. This ensures that those who use standards pay for them. There are no plans to change this.In some instances, national regulators pay for their enforcement authorities to have access to standards. For example, the Office for Product Safety and Standards pays BSI to give access for local trading standards departments to relevant safety standards.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Pakistan: Refugees

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that (1) Pakistani refugees have recently been rounded up by Thai police and taken to detention centres, and (2)Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan has issued an instruction to the Immigration Bureau to detain all foreigners without visas, stating that they will be deported within a month; and whether they have assessed the likelihood that Christian and Ahmadis may face persecution when returned to Pakistan.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: We are following closely the recent detention in Thailand of approximately 100 people, mainly from Pakistan, whom the Thai authorities consider illegal immigrants. This follows arrests of Cambodian and Vietnamese nationals at the end of August. We understand approximately 200 people who claim refugee and asylum status are currently in immigration detention, and that some of these are registered with the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). We believe that the recent orders are not aimed at any specific group or groups but apply to anyone whom the Thai authorities deem an illegal visa over-stayer, as part of a general tightening of immigration enforcement. In September a senior official from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office raised our concerns about the treatment of those in immigration detention with the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We are also working with the Thai authorities to improve conditions of detention. We remain concerned about the treatment of minority communities, including religious minorities, in Pakistan. I discussed our concerns about Freedom of Religion or Belief and the protection of minority religious communities with Pakistan’s Human Rights Minister, Dr Shireen Mazari, in September 2018.

Hong Kong: Press Freedom

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action, if any, they are taking in response to the decision by the government of Hong Kong to deny a work visa to the Financial Times’ Asia News Editor Victor Mallet; andwhether they have made an assessment of theimplications of that decision on (1) freedom of expression, and (2) the one country, two systems policy, in Hong Kong.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: We remain very concerned by the Hong Kong authorities’ unprecedented rejection of a visa for senior British journalist Victor Mallet. In the absence of an explanation from the authorities we can only conclude that this move is politically motivated. We believe this undermines Hong Kong’s freedom of speech and freedom of the press, both guaranteed by the Joint Declaration, and the Basic Law, and increases the pressure on the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ framework. We urge the Hong Kong authorities to urgently reconsider this decision. Confidence in Hong Kong’s rights and freedoms is an essential component of its future success. We have raised this issue with the Hong Kong authorities.​

Afghanistan: Human Rights

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their latest assessment of the human rights situation in Afghanistan.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: There has been significant progress on human rights in Afghanistan since 2001, particularly on women’s rights, freedom of speech and access to education. However, these gains are fragile and the overall human rights picture remains poor. The insurgency continues to be the biggest threat to human rights in Afghanistan, leading to a high number of civilian casualties and affecting access to education and health; and freedom of movement. In particular, there remain obstacles for women. The promotion of human rights in Afghanistan continues to be a priority for the UK. Further information on the human rights situation in Afghanistan can be found in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Human Rights Report 2017.

Department for Education

Special Educational Needs: Speech and Language Disorders

lord ramsbotham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that opportunity areas develop plans to improve communication and languageskills of children and young people over the age of five.

lord agnew of oulton: We know that poor speech, language and communication (SLC) skills can hold children back at school and limit their later life chances. This was identified as an issue in all 12 of the Opportunity Areas, which is why we have put plans in place to improve outcomes in the early years and across all the different phases and age ranges.Particular projects that include or focus on children over the age of five include the following:In Stoke-on-Trent, we are extending the successful “Stoke Speaks Out” initiative to 25 primary schools with lower than average numbers of children attaining a good level of development. This will provide targeted, specialist support for early language, communication and literacy.In Derby, we are inviting schools in the most deprived areas to participate in ‘Talk Derby’, an ambitious SLC programme offering a package of support including developing an improvement plan against their particular needs providing training and development for ‘front-line practitioners’ in identifying and supporting SLC needs and training parents to introduce an early talkers programme.In Blackpool, we are targeting nine secondary schools in a key stage 3 reading project. This will provide a series of interventions with the aim of increasing students’ reading fluency, enhancing their vocabulary and improving their comprehension.In Fenland and East Cambridgeshire, we are funding five schools to run evidence-based research projects to improve language and communication skills in their pupils, with a particular focus on the most disadvantaged.In West Somerset, three schools have taken part in a systematic synthetic phonics programme, “Read Write Inc”, delivered by Ruth Miskin training. We are now making plans for a more widespread synthetic phonics programme for the next academic year.In Bradford, we have approved a project through our Strategic School Improvement Fund that will support 23 schools to improve outcomes at key stage 1.

Special Educational Needs: Speech and Language Disorders

lord ramsbotham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that where there are concerns about a child or young person's behaviour in school an assessment is carried out to determine whether there are any causal factors such as difficulties with speech, language, and communication.

lord agnew of oulton: We expect schools to have clear processes to support pupils who present challenging behaviour, including how they will manage the effect of any disruptive behaviour so it does not adversely affect other pupils. With some pupils, such challenging behaviour may reflect a wide range of social and emotional difficulties, including underlying mental health difficulties or disorders or special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) such as difficulties with speech, language or communication. The SEND Code of Practice sets out the approach we would expect schools to take in relation to SEND, including requesting education, health and care (EHC) needs assessments. The government has taken steps to improve access to support for speech, language and communication needs. For example, the Children and Families Act 2014 aims to ensure improvements to early identification of children with speech and language communication needs. There is ongoing work between the Department for Education and Public Health England to target early years professionals for involvement in this early identification.To provide further support to school practice, we are reviewing our existing mental health and behaviour in schools guidance. This is to ensure it reflects the changing context for support with the implementation of the SEND reforms and changes that are happening in children and young people’s mental health following the ‘Future in Mind’ report (attached) and the mental health Green Paper: ‘Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision’ (attached). We are also reforming training so that all teachers will be shown how to effectively manage behaviour in their first two years in the profession and have recently announced a £10 million investment to support schools to share best practice in behaviour management. 



Future_in_mind_report
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Children_&_Young_People's_Mental_Health
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Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Disabled Facilities Grants

baroness smith of basildon: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the independent review of the Disabled Facilities Grant was commissioned; when it will report; when the report will be published; and when they expect to respond to that report.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: This Government welcomes the independent review and is carefully considering the recommendations it has made and will respond in due course. The independent review of the Disabled Facilities Grant was commissioned in January 2018 and reported back to Government on 12 July. We expect to publish the findings shortly.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

baroness randerson: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the devolved administrations will be (1) given control of how the proposed Shared Prosperity Fund will be spent, and (2) able to make decisions on which projects will benefit from the funding in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: In July the government published (attached) an update on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).We have also committed our intention to consult publicly on the design and priorities of the UKSPF in 2018.The government has been clear that we will engage the devolved administrations in advance of the public consultation, to ensure the UKSPF works for places across the UK. Officials in the UK government and all devolved administrations have begun discussions, and stakeholder events across the UK are planned throughout the rest of this year.We are continuing to work on the design of the UKSPF and final decisions on the operation and allocation of the Fund will be made as part of the 2019 Spending Review.  



Update on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund
(PDF Document, 503.4 KB)

Ministry of Defence

Syria: Military Intervention

the marquess of lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many civilian deaths and injuries resulted from the capture of Raqqa from ISIS by the United States-led coalition supported by Syrian Democratic Forces in 2017.

earl howe: Information relating to the number of civilian casualties in Raqqa resulting from coalition operations is not held by the UK, and is a matter for the United States Central Command.The RAF does everything it can to minimise the risk to human life and to civilian infrastructure from UK strikes, through our rigorous targeting processes and the professionalism of the RAF crews. All RAF weapons are deployed in strict accordance with the Law of Armed Conflict and rigorous Rules of Engagement. Thus all strikes we carried out in Raqqa were designed to cause the minimum amount of damage, proportionate to the task of clearing the city of the terrorist threat posed by Daesh.We have not seen any evidence that we caused civilian casualties during the campaign in Raqqa.

Islamic State: Military Intervention

the marquess of lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many civilian casualties in Syria and Iraq have resulted from the missions of the Combined Joint Task Force—Operation Inherent Resolve and the actions of the Global Coalition against Daesh.

earl howe: Information relating to the number of civilian casualties in Syria and Iraq resulting from coalition operations is not held by the UK, and is a matter for the United States Central Command.The UK was involved in one incident on 26 March 2018 in which a UK air strike targeting Daesh terrorists in eastern Syria resulted in an unintentional civilian fatality.I refer my noble Friend to the written statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Gavin Williamson) in the House of Commons on 2 May 2018 (HCWS665).We conduct detailed assessments after each UK air strike and will review any relevant information from non-Governmental organisations. We have not seen any evidence that the UK has been responsible for any other civilian deaths in Syria or Iraq as a result of RAF air strikes.We remain committed to being transparent about any fatalities caused as a result of UK strikes.



Counter-Daesh Operations 
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Future Large Aircraft

lord moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many A400M aircraft which were originally intended for the German Luftwaffe have been or will be accepted into RAF service; and what were the cost savings to the UK.

earl howe: The RAF has not received any A400M aircraft originally intended for service in the German Luftwaffe. As part of the normal programme planning process, a former German production slot for an unbuilt aircraft has been exchanged for a UK production slot, but there are no cost savings associated with this change.

Military Aircraft

lord moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government what aircraft will fulfil the air superiority role, including Quick Reaction Alert, when the F-35 enters service; and for how long.

earl howe: The F-35 Lightning and Typhoon are highly advanced multi-role aircraft that will provide the UK with capable and credible platforms for the air superiority role in the coming decades. Typhoon will continue to provide Quick Reaction Alert for the foreseeable future.

BOWMAN Combat Radio System

lord moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government what volume is taken up by the Bowman radio fit in current and planned army vehicles; and what impact this has on their capacity to carry soldiers and equipment.

earl howe: The information concerning the volume taken up by Bowman radio fits is not held centrally by the Department.The fit and installation of Bowman radio systems and the ability for vehicle crews to use them, form a key part of the vehicle architecture during the procurement process.

Type 31 Frigates

lord west of spithead: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any decision has been made about base porting and support for the new T31e Frigate.

lord west of spithead: To ask Her Majesty's Government what maintenance and logistic arrangements are being put in place, and where, for the entry of the Type 31e frigates into service in 2023.

earl howe: At this stage in the procurement process for the Type 31e programme, it is too early to discuss our plans for its maintenance, logistic and base-porting arrangements.

BAE Systems: Portsmouth

lord west of spithead: To ask Her Majesty's Government what options for small ship construction in the redundant BAE Systems facilities in Portsmouth have been considered.

earl howe: The former BAES facilities in Portsmouth Naval Base are home to a number of activities in support of the Royal Navy. It is a matter for industry to decide the optimum location for any work they undertake.

Electronic Warfare

lord campbell-savours: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether proposals for a joint cyber force and its location are the subject of a consultation.

earl howe: Her Majesty's Government recognises the rapid growth in the strategic importance of cyber capability to our defence and national security and as a key facet of national resilience, influence, and military capability. The provision and development of cyber capability is being reviewed as part of the broad remit of the Modernising Defence Programme.

Electronic Warfare

lord campbell-savours: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Royal Air Force Wyton andMinistry of Defence Corsham have been considered for a joint cyber force operations centre.

earl howe: No decision has been taken on investment and structuring of future cyber capability.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit

lord myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any contracts drawn up by the Department for Work and Pensionsfor suppliers working on Universal Credit include a clause requiring the supplier to do nothing that will attract adverse publicity to the Secretary of State or harm public confidence in her.

baroness buscombe: In contracts used across government, including at the Department for Work and Pensions and its Universal Credit programme, there are clauses that vary in different forms, typically these clauses require the supplier to ensure that neither it, nor any of its Affiliates, bring the Authority into disrepute by engaging in any act or omission which is reasonably likely to diminish the trust that the public places in the Authority, regardless of whether or not such act or omission is related to the Supplier’s obligations under said Agreement. These clauses do not prevent the contracting bodies from making statements critical of government policy, or programmes such as Universal Credit or politicians, and certainly do not prevent whistle-blowing (as this would be unlawful). They are designed to protect government, to ensure that contractors adhere to good working practices and do not engage in activities that will bring the Authority into disrepute or otherwise harm the confidence of the public in Government.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Hares: Myxomatosis

the marquess of lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are planning to take to prevent the extinction of the brown hare in the UK because of a mutated version of the myxomatosis virus.

lord gardiner of kimble: The UK’s brown hare population is relatively stable and not of conservation concern. Myxomatosis is endemic in rabbits and very occasionally can affect hares. There is no evidence to indicate that this disease is having a significant impact on the UK’s brown hare population at this time.

Environment Protection

baroness jones of whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Gardiner of Kimble on 20 June (HL8412),what are the names of the scientists, economists and environmentalists who have been working on the metrics to measure the progress of their 25 year Environment Plan; what meetings were held over the summer to engage interested parties; when the outcome of those deliberationswill be published; and what is the timetable for the formal consultation on the package of metrics.

lord gardiner of kimble: Over 100 specialists from Defra and its arm’s length bodies have been involved in developing the draft indicator framework. We have also worked with a range of external specialists from Defra’s advisory committees. Over the summer a number of meetings and workshops have been held with over 200 people from academic, business and voluntary organisations including workshops on landscapes, soils, water and wildlife. We will continue to engage with stakeholders to develop the framework.

African Swine Fever: Disease Control

baroness kennedy of cradley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to prevent the spread of African swine fever into the British pig population.

lord gardiner of kimble: In response to the spread of disease in Eastern Europe and the confirmation of disease in feral pigs in Belgium, Defra’s risk assessment level has been raised to medium and this has been widely communicated to the industry and pig keepers. Defra, the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and DAERA in Northern Ireland are currently working together on a joint communications campaign with the pig industry and veterinary bodies to raise awareness of the risks of the introduction of African swine fever (ASF) to the UK and the measures pig keepers can take to prevent this and protect their pigs, including reminding them of the ban on swill feeding, reporting clinical disease promptly, and not allowing people on farm who have had a history of recent travel to an ASF-affected area.

Home Office

Fracking: Protest

baroness jones of moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the Chief Constable of Police for Derbyshire's annual terrorism and domestic extremism report for the Strategic Governance Boardof November 2017, why a division of the East Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit provided significant intelligence support for the policing of anti-fracking protests; and when protests against fracking started to be classified as a terrorism- or domestic-extremism related issue.

baroness williams of trafford: The prioritisation of investigative resources is an operational matter for the police. They are responsible for managing demonstrations to preserve the peace, to uphold the law and to prevent the commission of offences.Police tactics and decisions on how to achieve these objectives, and the resources required, are matters for the independent operational judgement of chief officers.

Department for Exiting the European Union

UK Trade with EU: Republic of Ireland

lord lilley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of whether the EU can reach a legally binding agreement with the UK on the future trading relationships across the border between Ireland and the UK, before the UK has left the EU.

lord callanan: While we remain committed to resolving the Northern Ireland border through our overall economic relationship, the backstop is a critical issue and we stand by all our commitments. There must be a legally operative backstop in the Withdrawal Agreement - and one that is fully consistent with all the commitments made in the Joint Report.We agree that we need to maintain a measured and pragmatic approach to this issue, whilst respecting the key principles of both sides and we are confident that a deal is in the interests of both sides, so we approach these negotiations anticipating success.

Treasury

Electric Vehicles

baroness randerson: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the impact on the electric car market of company car tax thresholds increasing for the next two years.

lord bates: To provide certainty of the future tax liability for company car employers and employees, the government aims to announce the company car tax (CCT) rates three years in advance of implementation. Increases to CCT rates apply to all cars, to ensure revenues remain sustainable, particularly as average carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for new cars improve. The CCT rates for the tax years 2018-19 and 2019-20 continue to incentivise the uptake of zero and ultra low emission models. From 2020/21, the government will be introducing eleven new company car tax bands, including for ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs). These changes were announced at Autumn Statement 2016.

Motor Vehicles: Taxation

baroness randerson: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions HM Treasury has had with (1) the Department for Transport, (2) the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and (3) the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on aligning vehicle taxation with each of their policy objectives.

lord bates: Ministers and officials regularly hold discussions with other government departments to ensure the vehicle tax system, as with other parts of the tax system, aligns with overall government objectives.The vehicle tax system aims to encourage the uptake of cars with low and zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, to meet our legally binding CO2 targets and the government’s ambition for the majority of all the new cars and vans sold to be 100% zero emission by 2040.In addition, to improve air quality and encourage manufacturers to bring forward the next generation clean diesels to market sooner, the government introduced a temporary levy on new diesel car from April 2018. New cars which are not RDE2 compliant go up one Vehicle Excise Duty band in first year rate and the existing diesel supplement in the company car tax system increased from 3% to 4%.

Digital Technology: Taxation

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to impose a digital services tax on large technology companies.

lord bates: In its position papers, the government has set out the challenges that the digital economy poses to the international tax system, and the need for global reforms of that system to acknowledge the value users create for digital businesses. Any changes to the tax system are a matter for the Chancellor at the Budget.

Business: Taxation

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Confederation of British Industry’s call to review business rates and raise the annual investment allowance to £500,000 for 2 years.

lord bates: The government is aware of the Confederation of British Industry’s proposals. All taxes remain under review and any future changes to the tax system would be considered in line with the normal Budget process.

Film: Tax Allowances

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the British Film InstituteScreen Business: How screen sector tax reliefs power economic growth across the UK, published October 2018; and whether they intend to further assist the British film industry as a result of its findings.

lord bates: The government welcomes the British Film Institute’s report. The creative industries make a valuable cultural contribution to the UK and are an important part of a dynamic and diversified economy. The government also welcomes the British Film Institute’s efforts in improving the evidence about the impact of the screen sector on the UK economy. 2,420 films have benefitted from the film tax relief since it was introduced in 2007, providing support worth £469 million to the production of culturally British films in 2017-18, up from £424 million the year before. Last year the government invested almost £70 million in grant in aid and national lottery funding through the British Film Institute.